Hinge arrangement for hatch covers



Feb. 22, 1966 A. w. KERSTETER 3,235,283

HINGE ARRANGEMENT FOR HATCH COVERS Filed Sept. 26, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I \Y\ W/ INVENTOR flvmom MAE-#5 r5756 BYZW $15M ATTORNEYS Feb. 22, 1966 A. w. KERSTETER 3,236,288

HINGE ARRANGEMENT FOR HATCH COVERS Filed Sept. 26, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. Z0 24' Z2 t f I x 1 I 2/ Y// Q INVENTOR 5 E z4/wva/v M/Vfisrzrm BY W QaZ 9 W ATTORNEYS Feb. 22, 1966 A. w. KERSTETER 3,236,288

HINGE ARRANGEMENT FOR HATCH COVERS Filed Sept. 26, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I a? =36 3 L42 K46 7 54 44 44 J2 @giii m M 36 40 L42 K 32 \zy. 4.1.

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3% 3a 40 42 INVENTOR BY 9414 25W ATTORNEYB United States Patent 3,236,288 HINGE ARRANGEMENT FOR HATCH COVERS Ammon W. Kersteter, Newark, Del., assignor t0 Wiley Manufacturing Company, Port Deposit, Md., :1 corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 311,809 4 Claims. (Cl. 160206) The present invention relates to a hinge arrangement for hatch covers and more particularly, to an improved device for facilitating the opening and closing of a hatch cover of two hinged panels or two or more sections each of two hinged panels which when closed are positioned flush with the surface of the adjacent structure.

A number of means of linking a hatch cover of at least one section having two hinged panels to an adjacent structure have been employed in the past in an attempt to facilitate the opening of a hatch cover which in its closed position is flush with the surface of the adjacent deck structure. The principal results intended by these prior arrangements are to prevent the edges of the hatch cover from binding with the deck during opening and closing of the cover and providing a minimum extension of the cover above the deck when the latter is in the open position. However, serious shortcomings of the prior arrangements have been experienced since they have required either notching of the deck structure, thereby reducing its stress resistance, or the addition of cumbersome and costly elements to the deck and hatch cover structutre.

An important object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of prior arrangements by providing an improved hinge arrangement for a hatch cover of two hinged panels or two or more sections each of two hinged panels which is simple in construction, low in cost and does not require notching of the deck.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge arrangement which lifts the hatch cover with respect to the deck during the initial opening period and the final portion of the closing cycle to positively prevent contact between the hatch cover and the adjacent deck.

Ancillary to the immediately preceding object, a further object of the present invention is to provide a hatch cover arrangement which is easily lifted off its seat.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a hinge arrangement which permits at least 90 opening of the hatch cover and allows only minimum extension of the cover above the deck when the latter is fully opened.

Further objects and the entire scope of the invention will become more fully apparent when considered in the light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention and from the appended claims.

The illustrative embodiments may be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURES la-e are fragmentary vertical sectional side views of the hinge arrangement of the present invention illustrating successive stages of operation during an opening cycle, the hinge arrangement being used in conjunction with a hatch cover having at least one section of two hinged panels;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the hinge arrangement of FIGURE 1, with the panel of the hatch cover being shown in the closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of the present invention shown in FIGURES la-e and 2, the broken lines representing the fully open position, and

FIGURES 4ae are schematic diagrams illustrating an opening cycle utilizing the inventive hinge arrangement in conjunction with a two section hatch cover, each section having two hinged panels.

Briefly, the invention relates to a hinge arrangement employed with a hatch cover which links the cover to an adjacent deck structure such that when the cover is closed, its upper surface is co-planar with that of the deck. The hatch cover is of the type where there is at least one section, the section being made up of hinged panels adapted to be folded one on the other when the hatch cover is open. The hinge which links the deck structure and the hatch cover is a generally C-shaped device having one end fixedly secured to the hatch cover structure and the opposite end pivotally mounted to a slotted support member to the underside of the deck structure. The slot is arcuate in shape and the C-shaped hinge moves within the slot as the panels of the section of the hatch cover begin to pivot when opened or closed such that during certain portions of the opening and closing cycle, the level of the panels of the hatch cover are elevated ofl their seat and above that of the adjacent deck thereby preventing contact between the deck and the edge of the hatch cover. As the hatch cover is pivoted towards the open position, the edge of the deck structure is accommodated within the C-shaped recess of the hinge allowing the cover to be opened at least without interference from the deck structure and permits the edge of the hatch cover to be in close proximity to the upper surface of the deck when fully opened.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like or similar parts are represented by like or similar character or reference numbers, and in more detail to FIGURES la-e and 2, in a deck structure 10 is provided a hatch opening defined generally by the numeral 11, the hatch opening 11 having a peripheral wall 12 extending downwardly from the upper portion of the deck structure. The deck structure 10 is provided with an extension 14 which projects over a portion of the hatch opening 11. Attached to the underside of this extension 14, and to the wall 12, is a gusset or support plate 16. The support plate 16 is provided with an arcuately shaped slot 18 which serves to cam or position and support a hatch cover generally designated at 9 in the manner to be hereinafter described.

The hatch cover 19 is of the sectional type made up of two panels 21 and 23 respectively, the panels being suitably hinged together at 25 as shown schematically in FIGURE 3. The pivotal axis of the hinge 25 is positioned below the upper surface of the panels 21 and 23 when in the extended position closing the hatch opening 11. Panel 23 is provided with a wheel arrangement 27 at its free end which rides a track structure 29 (FIGURE 1e) provided on the Walls 12 of hatch 11. A stop member 31 mounted at the end of track structure 29 abuts the wheel arrangement 27 when the hatch cover 19 is in the fully closed position and cooperates with hinge arrangements, to be described later, to cause the panels 21 and 23 to elevate from their seat as well as clear adjacent deck structure 10.

The panel 21 of hatch cover 19 comprises an upper plate member 20 having a vertically extending support beam or wall 22 attached thereto, the beam extending downwardly to join a base plate 24. The base plate 24 is supported by the beam member 22 and plates 26 which are horizontally spaced and extend in a vertical plane to intersect a horizontal plate member 28 which is parallel to the upper surface 20 of the hatch cover 19. The plates 26 are integrally mounted on beam 22 and plate member 28 by welding, bolting or the like.

Attached to the hatch cover 19 at base plate 24 and at the vertically extending beam 22 are the ends of a pair of spaced, parallel, generally C-shaped hinge plates 30 which are positioned on opposite sides of the support member 16. The hinge plates 30 receive a pin 32 extending through the arcuate shaped slot 18. The hinges 30 are given their C-shaped contour by means of recesses 34 therein, intermediate their ends as shown.

Although in the fragmentary views of FIGURES la-e and 2 only one hinge structure is shown, it will be appreciated that a plurality of similar arrangements at appropriately horizontally spaced intervals may be employed as required by the physical characteristics of the hatch cover 19.

As may be observed in FIGURES 1ae, the end of the arcuate shaped slot 18 closer to the panel 21 of hatch cover 19 is at a level below that of its opposite end, and when the hatch cover 19 is in the closed position of FIGURES 1a and 3, the pin, carried by the C-shaped hinges 30, is located at this lower end of the slot 18. When in this position, the upper surface of the plate member 20 of the panel 21 of hatch cover 19 as well as the upper surface of the panel 23 are positioned in the same plane as the deck structure 10. However, as the hatch cover 19 is opened, the forces applied to the pin 32 are resolved to cause the pin to be cammed towards the opposite end of the slot 18 as shown in FIGURE 1b. It will be noted from FIGURE 3 that the pivotal axis 25 of the panels 21 and 23 is located below the axis of rotation of the wheel arrangement 27 on the track structure 29 and the pivot pin 32 for the hinge plates 30. When a conventional actuating mechanism applies an upward force to one or the other of the panels 21 or 23 or to the hinge at the axis 25, the panel 23 cannot move to the right of FIGURE 3, and thus a force is applied to the pivot pin 32 which is generally to the left of FIGURE 3. This will cause the pin 32 to follow the upwardly extending cam surface of the slot 18 and will result in the lifting of the panels 21 and 23 off of their seal.

Since the cam surface of the slot 18 moves gradually upwardly toward the opposite end of the slot, the entire hatch cover begins to elevate with respect to the deck structure during the initial portion of the opening cycle. As the opening cycle continues, the pin 32 rides further upwardly within the cam slot 18 until it reaches the opposite end thereof, as illustrated in FIGURE 10, at which point there is sufiicient clearance between the end of the upper plate member 20 of panel 21 and the deck extension 14. This action permits further pivoting of the hatch cover 19 towards the fully open position without the edge of plate member 20 engaging the deck structure 10. As this pivoting continues toward open position, the pin 32 begins to return downwardly towards the lower end of the cam slot 18 since the forces acting on pin 32 have an increasing downward component. This movement of the pin 32 to the lower end of the cam slot 18, illustrated in FIGURES 1d and le, allows the end of the deck extension 14 to project within the recesses 34 of the C-shaped hinge 30 while concurrently dropping the edge of the plate member 20 towards the upper surface of the deck structure 10. Accordingly, in the completely open position, the hatch cover 19, as shown in FIGURE 3, extends a minimum distance above the deck structure 10 with the hatch cover 19 being displaced at least 90 from the closed position without interference from the deck extension 14 of deck structure 10.

When the hatch cover 19 is moved to the closed position, a similar sequence of movement occurs. As the hatch cover 19 moves away from its fully opened position in a vertical plane, pin 32 remains at the lower end of the cam slot 18 while the wheel arrangement 27 moves along the track structure 29 towards the stop member 31. When the wheel arrangement engages the stop member 31, pin 32 is forced upwardly within the cam slot 18 causing the entire hatch cover 19 and the plate membr 20 of its panel 21 to be elevated with respect to the deck structure 10 during the final portion of the closing operation. When the hatch cover 19 is completely closed, the force of gravity on the hinged hatch cover draws the pin 32 to the lower end of the cam slot 18 4 as the pivot axis 25 returns to the full line position of FIGURE 3.

Now that a typical operative cycle of the hinge arrangement of the present invention has been described utilizing a single section for the hatch cover 19, the operation with reference to a hatch cover 19' having two interconnected sections, each section having two panels will now be discussed. This embodiment is illustrated schematically in FIGURES 4a-e. Here the hinge and hinge support arrangement corresponding to that of FIG- URES la-e and 2 is shown generally at circle 36, the position of the pivot pin 32 being indicated by the cross within the circle. Panels 1 and 2 of the first section are hingedly connected by a pivot shown schematically at 38, the pivot lying below the plane of the lower surfaces of these two panels as well as below the axis of rotation of a wheel arrangement 40 and the axis of the pivot pin 32. The wheel arrangement 40 of the usual type which rides in tracks along the sides of the hatch opening (not shown) to insure a smooth opening and closing of the hatch cover 19' is at the opposite end of the panel 2 from pivot 38. Adjacent to panel 2 is a third panel having a wheel arrangement 42 also cooperating with the track. The panels 2 and 3 are interconnected by a connecting link pivotally mounted to panel 2 at 44 and to panel 3 at 46, the latter pivot being at a lower level than pivot 44. Panel 3 is connected to a fourth panel at a pivot point 48 which is exactly similar to pivot 38 by which panels 1 and 2 are interconnected. To the opposite end of panel 4 there is connected a wheel arrangement 50 also riding in the tracks along the edge of the hatch opening. Immediately adjacent wheel arrangement 50 is a stop member 52 attached to the ships deck structure. The stop member 52 limits the motion of pane14.

The operation of this multiple panel arrangement is obvious from inspection of FIGURES 4a-e. As the hatch cover 19 begins to open, the pivot 38 tends to move upwardly. This tends to drive panels 3 and 4 to the right. However, stop member 52 prevents this motion and insures that the pivot pin 32 is driven upwardly on the cam surface of slot 18 as indicated and then the opening of panel 1 follows that described with reference to FIGURE 1. As panel 1 opens, pivot 38 is initially moved upwardly and to the left, as indicated in FIGURES 4b and 4c, and panel 2 is accordingly moved as its wheel assembly 44 is drawn to the left along the track arrangement. As panel 1 assumes a vertical position, as shown in FIG- URES 4d and 4e, pivot pin 32 moves downwardly and to the right, the pivot 38, located below the level of panels 1 and 2 in the closed position permits the panel 2 to be folded such that it is parallel to panel 1 in the fully open position. By this time, the linkage between pivots 44 and 46 is oriented such that movement of panels 1 and 2 draws the panels 3 and 4 to the left to thereby open the hatch. During the closing operation, the operation just described is reversed.

Although the multiple section hatch cover 19' just described employs two sections, it is obvious that more or less sections than this number may be utilized so long as a stop member is provided at the outermost end of the hinged panel sections farthest removed from the hinge arrangement.

While no actuating mechanism is shown, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that any suitable actuating mechanism may be employed such as a hydraulic or pneumatic system, an electric motor system, or the hatch cover may be opened manually or by mechanical hoist or the like.

The above described embodiments are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the invention but are not intended to limit the possibilities of insuring that no contact will be made between the hatch cover and the adjacent deck during opening and closing of the former and that the hatch cover will be extended a minimum distance above the deck when in the fully opened position. The hinge arrangement and the hatch cover configuration disclosed herein are examples of structure in which the inventive features of this disclosure may be utilized, and it Will become apparent to one skilled in the art that certain modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hatch arrangement: a deck structure having a hatch opening therein, a hatch cover for closing said hatch opening, said hatch cover having its upper surface substantially coplanar with the upper surface of said deck structure, support plate means mounted beneath said deck structure adjacent one side of said hatch opening, said support plate means being attached to said deck structure and to said one side of the hatch opening, a hinge memher having one end fixed to said hatch cover beneath the upper surface thereof, means pivotally connecting the other end of said hinge member to said support plate means, said pivotally connecting means including an armate cam slot in one of said support plate means and said hinge member and a pin fixed to the other of said sup port plate means and said hinge member and extending into said cam slot and movable with respect thereto, said cam slot having a first end adjacent one side of said hatch opening and a second end more remote from the side of said hatch opening adjacent said first end, the level of the first end of said cam slot being above the level of the second end whereby relative movement of said pin with re-' spect to the cam slot upon opening and closing of the hatch cover causes the same to elevate with respect to the deck structure adjacent said hatch.

2. In a hatch arrangement as defined in claim 1 Wherein said member includes a C-shaped recess therein, said recess accommodating an edge portion of the upper sur- 6 face of said deck structure when said hatch cover is in the open position.

3. In a hatch arrangement as defined in claim .1 wherein said hatch cover comprises a pair of panels, the first of said panels fixed to said hinge member and the second panel interconnected to said first panel by hinge means, a Wheel arrangement associated with said second panel, said wheel arrangement riding on a track structure provided on the walls of said hatch, the pivotal axis of said hinge means being below the axis of rotation of said Wheel arrangement and below the level of said second slot end when the hatch cover is fully closed, and a stop member mounted with respect to said track structure to abut the wheel arrangement when the hatch cover is fully closed.

4. In a hatch arrangement as defined in claim 1 Wherein said hatch cover comprises a plurality of sections, each section including a pair of panels interconnected by hinge means, and linkage means joining adjacent sections to form a series of interconnected panels only one of which is fixed to said hinge member; said linkage means being pivotally connected to adjacent panels of separate sections, the pivotal axis of each linkage means at the panel more remote from said hinge member being positioned below the level of the pivotal axis of the linkage means at the adjacent panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,932,272 4/1960 Beas 114202 2,946,304 7/1960 Greer et al. 114-202, 3,043,257 7/1962 Appleton et al 114202 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 'P. M. CAUN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A HATCH ARRANGEMENT: A DECK STRUCTURE HAVING A HATCH OPENING THEREIN, A HATCH COVER FOR CLOSING SAID HATCH OPENING, SAID HATCH COVER HAVING ITS UPPER SURFACE SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID DECK STRUCTURE, SUPPORT PLATE MEANS MOUNTED BENEATH SAID DECK STRUCTURE ADJACENT ONE SIDE OF SAID HATCH OPENING, SAID SUPPORT PLATE MEANS BEING ATTACHED TO SAID DECK STRUCTURE AND TO SAID ONE SIDE OF THE HATCH OPENING, A HINGE MEMBER HAVING ONE END FIXED TO SAID HATCH COVER BENEATH THE UPPER SURFACE THEREOF, MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE OTHER END OF SAID HINGE MEMBER TO SAID SUPPORT PLATE MEANS, SAID PIVOTALLY CONNECTING MEANS INCLUDING AN ARCUATE CAM SLOT IN ONE OF SAID SUPPORT PLATE MEANS AND SAID HINGE MEMBER AND A PIN FIXED TO THE OTHER OF SAID SUPPORT PLATE MEANS AND SAID HINGE MEMBER AND EXTENDING INTO SAID CAM SLOT AND MOVABLE WITH RESPECT THERETO, SAID CAM SLOT HAVING A FIRST END ADJACENT ONE SIDE OF SAID HATCH OPENING AND A SECOND END MORE REMOTE FROM THE SIDE OF SAID HATCH OPENING ADJACENT SAID FIRST END, THE LEVEL OF THE FIRST END OF SAID CAM SLOT BEING ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE SECOND END WHEREBY RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID PIN WITH RESPECT TO THE CAM SLOT UPON OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE HATCH COVER CAUSES THE SAME TO ELEVATE WITH RESPECT TO THE DECK STRUCTURE ADJACENT SAID HATCH. 